S/PV.2455 Security Council

I should like to inform the members of the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Lesotho, in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Thamae (Lesotho) took a place at the Council table.

Members of the Council have before them the report submitted by the Secretary- General pursuant to resolution 527 (1982). 3. tiembers of the Council have ah received photocopies of a letter dated 29 June from the representative of South Africa [S/Z584fl. 4. I call upon the representative of Lesotho.

My delegation wishes to congratulate you most heartily, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency for the month of June. As the representative of the Republic of Zimbabwe, a country with which my own country, Lesotho; enjoys warm and friendly reiations, you have proved to be an outstanding and worthy diplomat. 6. Similarly, I wish to congratulate your predecessor, the representative of Zaire, on his able leadership of the Council last month. 7. I wish also to express my delegation’s gratitude to the Council for having responded to our request to discuss the matter now before it. This demonstrates the support and sympathy my country enjoys among the members oftlie Council, and it is a source of encouragement to us. ,8. We appear before the Council not so much to recall the events of 9 December 1982 as to follow up on the efforts undertaken by the Secretary-General aimed at implementing Council resolution 527 (1982). My Government is highly appreciative of the Secretary- General’s report on assistance to Lesotho, which is now before the Council, and fully endorses its contents. 9. Since members of the Council are already familiar with the contents of the report I shall refrain from repeating them. I wish .only to highlight some of the, recommendations made therein. Obviously it was. not only on 9 December 1982, when South Africa unleashed its forces of aggression against Lesotho, that some, if not most, of the economic projects outlined in the report became important and urgent. Lesotho has been struggling under difficult economic circumstances to fulfil its obligation to receive and provide for the welfare of South African refugees for a long time. 10. These projects have acquired an added priority for a number of reasons. First, South -Africa did apply a number of economic pressures against Lesotho in an attempt to force it to close its borders to the victims of apartheid who found life in their own country intolerable. Secondly, South Africa did indicate that unless Lesotho changed its policy towards the South African refugees these pressures would be expanded. And, as the Council is aware, South Africa has created a dangerous security situation around its borders with Lesotho through acts of aggression, economic sabotage and general destabilization. On 9 December 1982 South Africa carried out an unwarranted act of aggression against my country resulting in loss of innocent lives and extensive damage to property. 12. My Government is grateful for the support and assistance it has received so far in alleviating the most immediate needs of the victims of the South African attack whose peaceful lives were disrupted. 13. The report that we are considering identifies a number of areas in which Lesotho could be assisted so as to ensure the welfare of refugees in a manner consistent with their security. Security in the context of Lesotho can be defined broadly as protection of the country and its people from outside attacks. It entails not only protection of the State and its citizens and the refugees residing’ within its borders from physical harm but also safeguards in such vital areas as food, health, education and work opportunities. 14. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Mission’s report emphasized the need for vital economic support to enable Lesotho to receive and maintain refugees and to help them to be successfully integrated into its own society. The Mission recommended urgent assistance totalling $US 46 million for security, maize storage, employment, electricity, the new international airport, emergency medical services and the.establishment of a fire brigade. These recommendations have been endorsed by my Government and are being submitted to the Council so that it may endorse them. 15. The members of the Security Council should be encouraged to note that a good number of countries and organizations have already shown sympathy and support for the report, and some have even made their pledges to the Lesotho Government. For its part, the Lesotho Government has established a fund to canalize national efforts in this regard. With the good support that is building up in all sectors of our population and among peoples of goodwill generally, we are confident that this fund will make a meaningful contribution. The fund is also intended to cover the effects of other similar attacks. 16. While on this subject, it will no doubt be of interest to members of the Council to note that following the Maseru massacre it was not long before it became ap parent that South Africa was not fully satisfied with its previous attack. In the early hours of 27 January of this year, the opening day of the meeting of the Southern African Development Co-ordinationConferenceinMaseru, 17. The most recent acts of hostility and aggressiveness occurred only a few days ago, on 26 June, when heavily armed terrorists crossed from South Africa into Lesotho and attacked targets in the districts of Mohale’s Hoek and Qacha’s Nek., I wish to quote the following passage from a protest note sent by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lesotho to the Department of Foreign Affairs of South Africa: “Yesterday evening, 26 June 1983, attacks emanating from the Republic of South Africa were carried out by heavily armed men at Taung in the Mohale’s Hoek district. A second attack was carried out against a police station and the Lesotho Paramilitary Force barracks in Qacha’s Nek town. “In the attack at Taung heavily armed men were seen to have crossed into Lesotho from the Republic of South Africa at or near a place called Boesmanskop. In this attack several motorists lost their lives. A shop owned by Mr. Zwakala, a member of the Lesotho Parliament, and his residence were attacked with bazookas, resulting in considerable damage to the said property. “In the attack at Qacha’s Nek the attackers also came from the Republic of South Africa and opened fire on the Lesotho Paramilitary Force based in Qacha’s Nek town. They also attacked a Government garage, causing considerable damage. Two busa belonging to the Lesotho National Bus Corporation were destroyed. “In both the above-mentioned attacks the attackers came from the Republic of South Africa, and after completion of these acts they fled back into South Africa. “The Lesotho Government registers a very strong protest against the South African Government, as the Lesotho Government has in the past consistently affirmed that the country from which attacks are planned and perpetrated and which further gives sanctuary to these criminals also bears responsibility for the attacks. “The Lesotho Government regrets that these attacks come at a time when Lesotho is making efforts to strengthen good-neighbourly relations with the Republic of South Africa.*’ 19. Members of the Council are fully aware of the recent unwarranted action taken by South Africa against Lesotho. The deliberate slowdown in the flow of traffic *between Lesotho and South Africa was engineered by the Pretoria authorities in order to exacerbate the economic difficulties of Lesotho and undermine its political stability. As a result of the slowdown of traffic, many innocent people were exposed to inordinate delays at points of entry between Lesotho and South Africa under harsh winter conditions, and vital food and medical supplies entering Lesotho have been held up for no understandable reason. Various perishable goods have been lost, to the financial detriment of the business community in Lesotho. 20. It is events like these which help to emphasize the importance my Government attaches to the new Maseru international airport, which is now under construction, as it is aimed at providing Lesotho with an alternative route to the outside world. The people of Lesotho will be highly grateful and indebted to the international community for whatever assistance may be rendered in order to make the international airport a meaningful and viable option in solving Lesotho’s transportation problems and facilitating contacts with the rest of the world.

In accordance with the understanding reached in the course of the Council’s prior consultations, I shall suspend the meeting now for 10 minutes. The meeting was suspended at noon and resumed at 12.15 p.m.

Members of the Council have before them document S/15846, which contains the text of a draft resolution that has been prepared in the course of the Council’s consultations. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution. I shall now put this draft resolution to the vote. A vote was taken by show of hana?. The draft resolution was adopted unanimously [resoIution 535 (1983)].

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